Peaty's 15 saves help Hounds handle UMass

Primed for a third-quarter breakout, similar to the one against St. John's last week, the Loyola men's lacrosse team's momentum was sucked away in the opening minutes of the second half. Massachusetts cut their deficit to one at the 12:41 mark and then knotted the game up just three minutes later.

That was the Hounds' wake-up call.

Senior Ryan Rabidou found classmate Greg Leonard cutting down the alley for a score, and three minutes later the Hounds got a gift when a UMass shot clanked off the pole. Loyola quickly turned the lucky bounce into a fast-break goal as junior Paul Richards fired a shot from just outside the crease. In rhythm, sophomore Jake Wilcox capped off the 3-0 run in the waning moments of the quarter, extending the Greyhounds' lead to 8-5.

That was the good news for Loyola (2-5, 3-0 ECAC), who edged out the Minutemen, 10-8, for their fourth straight victory on Saturday. But revenge is supposed to taste a little sweeter than a two-goal nail-biter.

With last year's 14-9 loss to UMass still festering in their minds, the Hounds didn't need any extra motivation in the rematch. However, they soon found out the Minutemen are made of something tougher than their 2-5 record indicates.

Loyola played sloppy for stretches, with UMass shifting the momentum after a second-half surge, but sophomore goaltender Alex Peaty and the dwindling game clock kept the Greyhounds afloat.

"We had some lapses, but that happens in every game," Peaty said. "A good team can come back from those lapses and that's what we did today."

The Minutemen peppered Peaty with an astounding 47 shots, and although only half were near the goal, his career-high 15 saves stopped UMass from landing an upset.

"Thank goodness Alex is in the goal," head coach Charley Toomey said. "He was terrific in the nets. Every time we broke down defensively, he backed us up. UMass came out with a lot of energy."

The Minutemen set the tempo early with four quick shots and a man-up opportunity, but Peaty easily flicked away the errant attempts and set up the Grey-hound offense. At the 11:48 mark, senior Jordan Rabidou lobbed a pass from behind the UMass goal to a waiting Greg Leonard, and the senior midfielder fired a low liner for the first score of the day.

It took until the 5:42 mark, but the UMass pressure finally broke through, tying the score at one.

A minute later, senior Dan Bauers took a pass from junior Shane Koppens, and Loyola took the lead back on their first man-up opportunity.

The Hounds' deliberate style of offense continued into the second quarter, and the Minutemen took advantage. Peaty snagged a bullet headed for the upper corner of the net, but UMass was relentless. They tied the score at two and came right back with the go-ahead shot at the 10:28 mark.

"UMass was shooting the ball well, but we had a gameplan and responded," Peaty said. "They played hard, but we were ready… we did a good job keeping [their offense] at the perimeter."

The Greyhounds' transition game finally started to improve, spurred on by seniors Steven Hess and Andy Spack.

First, senior Cory Coffman cut down the alley and drilled a shot to the lower left corner, tying the game at three. Then Spack instigated a UMass foul and responded with a goal, giving Loyola the lead back at the 4:55 mark.

The Greyhounds went into the half up 5-3, thanks to senior Pat Kennedy, who single-handedly swung the momentum to Loyola. With UMass in possession, Kennedy attempted a full-out dive, knocking the ball loose from behind.

One minute later, he cut into the crease, took a feed from Koppens, and scored the goal.

After Loyola seized control with their three-goal spurt at the end of the third quarter, Coffman seemed to deliver the clinching blow with a goal to start the fourth.

But UMass refused to die and came right back with a goal to move back to within three. Spack took advantage of an extra-man opportunity and dunked in his second goal of the day, but the Minutemen scored once again.

With just four minutes remaining, UMass pried the ball out of a scramble, went straight down the field, and found themselves just two more Loyola mistakes away from tying the game.

Fortunately for Loyola, the clock was in their favor, and they escaped the late surge after employing a zone defense.

"[The zone] slowed them down a little bit and took some pressure off our short sticks," Toomey said. "We knew we had to hold [UMass] under 10 [goals], because they're like 20-0 when they get to 10."

Toomey knows that if his team lets down against next week's opponent -- No. 14 Syracuse -- the Orange will make them pay.

"It could be ugly," Toomey said. "We've got to be smart and we've got to be crisp in our offensive sets. Syracuse can shoot the ball, and if you're not ready, they'll bite you."

The Syracuse match is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday.